Craftsman 10" Bench Drill Press with Laser - Model#ZJ4113Z

This is my second attempt on a 10” bench drill press. After a huge disappointment with the Harbor Freight 10” bench drill press due to the fact that the quill and chuck wobbled no matter how many times I adjusted the set screw. While drilling a piece of wood, the bit kept running off and I thought “man this is dangerous”. Lesson learned to NEVER buy BIG machinery at HF, only small items like clamps, drill bits for quick jobs, and numerous other small things. Don’t get me wrong, I love HF, I’m always there when I need something. In fact I got other smaller power tools from them that so far are still working just fine. So I returned the machine back to HF for a full refund. After researching the web for better brand drill presses, I decided to go with the “Craftsman 10” Bench Drill Press with Laser” . Dang thing is heavy. To be honest I am a bit skeptical about this machine since the reviews for it online are not so stellar as one expects. I also realized, well, why believe the internet right! So I took a risk and bought it with an extended 3 year warranty for $18 extra, not bad for the price I paid total plus it is a known reputable brand. I’ll come back to this forum to update on the progress once I have it assembled and tested drilling different materials. I’m crossing my fingers for this thing to have no runoff whatsoever.

-- Jose

8 replies so far

I have the next size up (12”) from this one and I have had no problems with it. I too bought the HF drill press and had the same wobble problem and immediately returned it. You should really like this drill press.

I have the 8” Drill press from HF and it’s been wonderful for the past 3 years. It may be restricted to that particular model. As my skills develop though, I am finding out the 8” may be too small for some of my future projects, so I may be on the lookout for a larger one. What does everyone prefer in terms of Floor Mount or Bench Mount? I am at odds with both.

For drilling wood, I’d take a look at Grizzly’s floor mount radial DP. I had a Rockwell benchtop version many years ago, which had a serious fault: it had no crank and gear rack for raising/lowering the table. You had to loosen the table clamp, grab the table with both hands, then twist back and forth while lifting to raise the table. A real pain in the back. But the radial feature was handy. Allows you to drill to the center of quite a large radius, and drill at an angle to the work; even end drill long stock off the table by swiveling the head around. But I wouldn’t bother with Grizzly’s bench top radial, as the post and radial arm are not very robutst looking, and these presses are prone to flexing, which spoils precision drilling.

-- I admit to being an adrenaline junky; fortunately, I'm very easily frightened

Hi Jose.I realize this is an older post, but I just purchased the same DP today (used). Just wanted to see how you were making out with its performance. But also, I wanted to know if you knew what the belt size is. I understand it’s an O belt, but I am having a difficult time finding a replacement. Thanks for your help.Brian